The Venezuelan Foredeeps, Part I: Stratigraphy

Jairo Lugo and Felipe Audemard

On the basis of geological and geophysical data we present the evolution and migration of foredeeps over a region of ±1000 Km from western to eastern Venezuela. Late Cretaceous to Pliocene ages of foreland basin sedimentation in these areas suggest a time transgressive, oblique collision of the Caribbean plate along the northern margin of Venezuela. In the same area Jurassic red-beds were deposited in a back-arc setting and were onlapped by a thin Cretaceous Atlantic-type passive margin sedimentation.

Late Cretaceous to Eocene sedimentation records the first manifestation of thrust related foredeeps north and then east of the Maracaibo basin, associated with the oblique collision of south-verging Caribbean terranes. During the Oligocene-Pliocene times, the eastward displacement of the Caribbean plate relative to South America, induced the formation of progressively younger foredeeps from north-central (Guarico basin) to eastern Venezuela (Maturin basin). At the same time, Late Oligocene to Pliocene foredeeps were also formed west and then south of the Maracaibo basin, reflecting the east-verging Perija Ranges and the northwest-verging Venezuelan Andes folded belts. We document each foredeep with a series of Cretaceous to Pliocene regional isopachs burial plots and seismic profiles.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #91019©1996 AAPG Convention and Exhibition 19-22 May 1996, San Diego, California